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Appliance Man, Home Appliance Technician

Category: Appliance

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Experience: Appliance tech 4 years

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I have an Amana Bottom Freezer M#: B136CAL1 that all of a sudden

Customer Question

I have an Amana Bottom Freezer M#: B136CAL1 that all of a sudden the refrigerator got warm, butter melting warm, but the Freezer still seems to be cold. What could this be? I thought these had only one compressor (on the top).

Ok the only way butter will melt is if the temp of the fridge gets warmer then room temp. The only way this can happen in the fridge is if the light is left on. Then the light works as a heating element. Make sure the light turns off and on when the door switch is press in. If that is ok the door must have been left ajar.

The alarm went off Tuesday Night, and I thought I had left the door open, but didn't. I reset the Fridge Temp and it seem ed to work OK. Then today late my wife came home and said it was warm. So sometime this afternoon.

Ok IF the butter is melting there has to be a heat source introduced into the fridge. Butter will not melt at room temp. The only heat source in the fridge would be the light bulb. Some how the light has to be staying on. whether it is the light switch acting up or if the door is getting left ajar. That is the only way.

No, the light isn't on. I can slowly open the door and see the light come on. Now this time around I did feel a liitle cool air blowing. I had hit the "Max Fridge Temp" setting when I was fooling around with it earlier.

The freezer cols the fridge by circulating cold air into it. If the fan is running the fridge could be cooling. The air passages could be blocked and not allowing air to enter the fridge but this would NOT cause the butter to melt. Butter doesn't melt until 85 degrees. If you butter is melting the butt has to be hotter then 85 degrees. Now if you keep your house at 85 degrees then maybe thats the problem but if you dont then something has to be warming the fridge up to 85. Butter on the top shelf sits right by the light.

No the house is cool. Yes, the butter was up next to the light. My wife just told me that when she found it this afternoon late, there was a light on the display that said "High Temp" and it was warm. The door had to be shut because the alarm didn't go off. The alarm did sound Last night when it acted up, but not this time. So, even if the light was somehow staying on that would warm the whole refridgerator and melt the butter. The whole compart ment was warm when I checked it a few hours ago. The compressor is on the top. Could that cause it to be warm?

No the light ill warm up the whole compartment fast. A light is hot and there is very little cold air that enters the fridge to keep it cool thats why it takes 8 hours to cool the fridge the first time you turn it on.

I was jsut working on removingthe bulbs an I noticed, I couldn't agjust the Fridge temp. It was the Freezer that i was changing and when I pushed theFridge Temp butten to change it, only the Freezer temp would register. I could turn the "Max Fridge" on and off, but the Fridge temp control doesn't work at all, at least the buttons don't beep and the little Blue bars dn't come up to show the setting. Since there is only one compressor, what does the Temp settings control? This may be worth a Tip, as I still doubt the light switch, but it could be.

I checked this morning and it is cool in the Fridge, now. It started cooling after I hit the MAX Cooling setting. I turned that off and the Fridge Temp setting still doesn't work. It will set the Freezer only., though there is a Solid Blue bar in the Fridge Temp window about half of the area, but nothing happens when I try to change the Fridge Temp. My wife further explained the butter that she referred to was in some small round butter dishes that were on the top shelf towards the front (the Light) and the butter was in a liquid state, so it was melted. She said a month ago or so she found some butter in the butter compartment melted and had dripped out, similar to what I found yesterday. So, is anything you feel that is broken here repairable by a handy homeowner or could you recommend a repair person in the Atlanta area. I'm in the Tucker, GA area. I've not had good luck with appliance service people in the past. Everytime I find a good one, they leave.

I appreciate that. I called a guy today and he was going to price out the control panel and the light switch. He said something about heater coils in the door seal or something? That didn't make sense to me. That's what scares me about appliance repairs. It's hard to tell the good guys from the bad . . . until after the fact. I appreciate the help. I'll go back on line and update my review. Joe

Very good! I appreciate your help. I'll leave further review and a tip for the extra help. It's working for now, albeit quite cold. Must be stuck on Max Cool. I still can't adjust it. New ones are real expensive, so I hope I can get this one fixed. Thank you, Joe

I hope this finds you. I thought I would foloow up and let you know, you were right! I eventually found a Viking Repair guy, who is marvalous by the way, and it is a known issue with the Amana/Viking refrigerators. Viking apparantly made these for Amanna at one time. The fix was simple, just disconnect the factory switch and install on of the plastic button switches like most refigerators have. It goes in the plastic cover at the top. He said the original switch was poorly engineered and this is a far better and cheaper fix. Thought you'd like to know. Thanks, Joe

I do have a question that I'm willing to pay for, if you feel you have an answer. I gave a Gaggenau 12" Wok Burner built-in to my countertop. The burner is rusted. I want to replace the burner with one of those 100k + BTU burners made for woks. I want to keep the box and the frame of the Gaggenau because it's built in. I need a valve for it, and would like a safety valve that won't allow gas through w/o a flame. It NG. Any ideas or thoughts, besides "Don't Try That?" Thanks, Joe

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